Nirmal Om newsline

Pentagon grounds its entire fleet of F35 fighter jets The US military temporarily grounded its entire fleet of F-35 fighter jets - used in Air Force, the Navy and the Marines - as a precautionary measure after a routine inspection detected a crack on an engine blade. All F-35 flight operations have been suspended until the investigation is complete, the Pentagon said on Friday. "It is too early to know the fleet-wide impact of the recent finding," it said, adding F-35 Joint Program Office is working closely with Pratt & Whitney and Lockheed Martin at all F-35 locations to ensure the integrity of the engine, and to return the fleet safely to flight as soon as possible. The Pentagon said a routine engine inspection revealed a crack on an engine blade of the F-35 engine installed in F-35A aircraft AF-2 operating at Edwards Air Force Base,

Bangladesh, Japan strike deal for Dhaka metro rail February 23, 2013 With an endeavor to ease the traffic problems that create havoc mainly in the capital city, Bangladesh on Wednesday signed a loan deal with a Japanese development agency for construction of the country’s first-ever metro rail system. Traffic in the country’s capital, home to 15 million people, is among the slowest in the world with commuters spending three-to-four hours in jams daily. A mix of 200,000 motor vehicles and another half-million cycle-rickshaws clog the roads. Officials said the proposed 20.1-kilometre ground and elevated railway will stretch across Dhaka from north to south with 16 stations and will ferry four million commuters every day, easing the jams substantially. The project will cost an estimated USD 2.8 billion, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Bangladesh chief Takao Toda said, adding that his agency will finance 85 per cent of the cost at an

Hero Hockey World League Round Two - Bangladesh VS Fiji 8-4 23.02.13 : New Delhi: Hero Hockey World League Round Two - Bangladesh VS Fiji Bangladesh – Fiji 8-4 (half-time: 3-2)   Mamunur Rahman Chayan’s four goal corner burst eventually put paid to Fiji’s hopes of a first win from a spectacular men’s Hero Hockey World League Round Two 2013 in Delhi.   It helped Bangladesh land their third win from four games and, with a game against India to come, are hopeful of causing  an upset to try and make it through to round three.Things looked to be relatively comfortable when Krishno Kumar Das scored twice in the opening eleven minutes, first with a tidy one-on-one finish, next when he guided home Md Mosiur Rahman Mosiur’s whipped pass. Kamruzzaman’s excellent rising effort made it 3-0 before Fiji stormed back into contention.  Jerome Edwards scored their first with a very smart piece of work down the right, lifting it in from a narrow angle. And Ad

Gujarat bags five awards India’s best cities Awards Gujarat bags five awards, Vadodara ranked overall best emerging city *** Gandhinagar, Surat and Rajkot also awarded in different categories New Delhi:   Gujarat has been adjudged with five prestigious “India Today- Best City Awards-2013” in different categories at a function held here. While Vadodara bagged the award for overall best emerging city, Gandhinagar and Surat ranked best cities in category of Crime & Safety, Rajkot for Housing & Transport and Vadodara again for Public Services. All the five awards were received by Shri I.P. Gautam, Principal Secretary (Urban Development) of Gujarat Government from Union Minister for Urban Development Shri Kamal Nath here. The cities were ranked on a primary survey of 50 cities and out of these, 17 cities were shortlisted with five from Gujarat state. Gujarat has received a number of national and international awards in last decad

Boeing, Dream liner brand 787s remain grounded Posted on February 22, 2013 by sagarmedia Boeing, Dream liner brand 787s remain grounded under instructions from the US aviation authorities following a series of systematic error, problems in  a battery fire, malfunction. Japanese transport ministry’s order on Friday is in response to two cases of fuel leaks in January involving 787s operated by Japan Airlines. One happened at Boston’s Logan Airport, and the other at Japan’s Narita Airport.Transport ministry officials blame the leak in Boston on a foreign object stuck in a fuel tank valve, which prevented the valve from closing.They say the leak at Narita Airport was due to an unnecessary coating job on a motor switch for a separate valve, which caused the switch to malfunction.The ministry’s order for pre-flight checks covers Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. Boeing official said, partial changes to its assembly process to prevent faulty co

Egyptians to vote for new parliament in April February 22, 2013 Egyptians to elect their new parliament beginning 27th April. The election will be held in several phases and the entire electoral process will be over by June .The new People’s Assembly will be formally convened after the polls on July 6. A Presidential decree to this effect was issued by the Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in Cairo yesterday. The announcement of elections is being seen as yet another attempt by the President Mursi to tide over the ongoing political and economic crisis in the country. The ruling Muslim Brotherhood feels that the move will help stem the protests by the opposition.The umbrella opposition , the National Salvation Front, led by the former IAEA Chief Mohamed El Bardei is yet to react on the move. However one of the major political players, the left wing Popular Currant led by the former Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi, the opposition Dostur party and a group of rev

Bulgarian government resigns    SOFIA: Bulgaria Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced his government's resignation on Wednesday following days of sometimes violent street protests in the European Union's poorest member. The move paves the way for early elections, which had been due to be held in July. "We have dignity and honour. It is the people who put us in power and we give it back to them today," Borisov told parliament, adding that he would not participate in an interim government. Bulgaria has been shaken over the past week by protests that initially were about soaring electricity prices but which have turned into nationwide demonstrations against the right-wing government in general. Violent protest & clashes left dozens of people wo

New Delhi, 21 st February, 2013 Think big, start small, scale fast, say digital experts at ad:tech New Delhi 2013   The third Delhi edition of the world’s #1 digital marketing event, ad:tech New Delhi 2013 , kick-started in the capital today with thousands of delegates pouring in from India and all over the world to learn about the latest trends from global experts, share their own experiences and for business networking. The opening keynote in the morning by Wendy Clark, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing Communications and Capabilities, The Coca Cola Company, deliberated on the concept of Liquid & Linked Marketing. Wendy stressed on the need to create more stories that are share-worthy instead of typical advertisements. In this age of real-time marketing, it is imperative to think big, start small and then scale rapidly, she recommended while addressing a packed audience. We are built for scale – if we do not reposition our failure, we will s

Armenian Election Improved :OSCE by sagarmedia on February 20, 2013 OSCE observers said on Tuesday the Armenian presidential election which saw the incumbent, Serzh Sargsyan, reelected to another five-year term showed improvement but lacked genuine competition. “The February 18 Armenian presidential election demonstrated improvements over previous presidential elections, but the limited field of candidates meant that the election was not genuinely competitive,” observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said in a statement posted on the OSCE website. Important democratic freedoms, including the right to campaign freely, were generally respected during the campaign, observers said. “This election showed improvement, but lacked genuine competition,” said Tonino Picula, head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly election observation mission. “We are pleased to note progress on several aspects, but competition is critical if Armenia is going to live up to the a

Putin Meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II February 20, 2013 President Vladimir Putin and Jordan’s King Abdullah II met in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in the trade, economic, military technology, investment, energy and humanitarian sectors, the Kremlin reported. According to earlier reports, the two leaders were supposed to discuss in particular the proposed Russian participation in a project to build Jordan’s first nuclear power plant (NPP), but it was unclear from a statement on the meeting posted on the Kremlin’s website whether that particular topic was discussed and to what extent. The Kremlin said earlier that “the heads of state will discuss the possibility of Russian participation in the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the Kingdom of Jordan, as well as infrastructural development and mining.” Jordan first announced plans to build its own nuclear capacity and exploit the country’s uranium resource

Russian premier on visit to Brazil,Cuba Medvedev has arrived in Brazil’s capital Brasilia, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Wednesday. During his visit to Brazil on February 20-21, Medvedev is expected hold talks with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and co-chair with Vice-President Michel Temer the sixth meeting of the Russian-Brazilian high-level bilateral cooperation commission.  Russian premier will also meet with business executives and entrepreneurs. A source in the Russian delegation told media on Monday that Russia and Brazil are expected to sign several intergovernmental agreements and up to five contracts in such areas as metallurgy, medicine and hi-tech industry. Russia hopes to participate in a tender for the construction of four nuclear power plants in Brazil until 2030 and expand military-technical cooperation with the Latin American country, the source said. On February 21, Medvedev will arrive in Cuba for a two-day w

Tunisia's prime minister Hamadi Jebali resigns Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali on Tuesday submitted his resignation to President Moncef Marzouki, after failing to form a new government aimed at ending a political crisis. After meeting President, Jebali, in a broadcast on television said "I promised and assured that, in the event that my initiative failed, I would resign as head of the government, and that is what I have done". Jebali, whose efforts to form a government of technocrats was rebuffed on Monday by his own Ennahda party, said he was standing down to "fulfill a promise made to the people." "This is a big disappointment," he said. "Our people are disillusioned by the political class. We must restore confidence." Jebali said he had called on his

Just Foreign Policy News, February 19, 2013 Could We Move Dianne Feinstein on CIA Oversight? Read This Edition of the Just Foreign Policy News on the Web http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1381 [use this link if you are having formatting issues with the email] Go Straight to the News Summary in this Email Switch to the "Short Email" Version of the News I) Actions and Featured Articles Do you live in California, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Maine, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Indiana, or Idaho? If you do, you have a Senator on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Why not call them during the Senate recess, urging them to support a public hearing on CIA drone strikes? All the info you need is here. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1378 Could We Move Dianne Feinstein on CIA Oversight? The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is supposed to oversee the Central Intelligence Agency, has never held a p

EDITORIAL: Kumbh: time to come clean by Sunita Narain ====================================================== Maha Kumbh in Allahabad has perhaps no parallel in terms of the sheer size of the congregation. In less than two months over 100 million people are expected to come to this city, which sees the confluence of two rivers of India—the Ganga and the Yamuna. People come to worship on the banks of the Ganga. Even as they celebrate the river it seems they don’t see the river, but only the ritual. The fact is that this “mela” is about how the Hindu religion—and I believe all religions—is based on a deep understanding of and respect for nature’s strength. But we now worship without reason. So, people can take a dip in the polluted river but still believe that the dirt, the filth and the plastic that swims around them, will not defile the river’s properties. Our strength has become our weakness. It is a fact today that the Ganga and the Yamuna are polluted beyond accept

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa is re-elected to a third term February 19, 2013 Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa is re-elected to a third term in office thus making way for his socialist revolution even as he seeks to woo foreign investment in the resource-wealthy Andean nation. “We will be present wherever we can be useful, wherever we can best serve our fellow citizens and our Latin American brothers,” Correa told supporters who gathered in front of the presidential palace in Quito on Monday. Rafael, 49-year economist defeated his nearest rival by more than 30 percentage points, according to results ratified by the National Electoral Council. His  victory put up  Latin America’s most outspoken critic of US, Correa’s closest challenger, former banker Guillermo Lasso has conceded defeat, congratulating Correa for “a victory deserving respect”. Leftist leaders’s social and economic programmes have made him a popular leader, with an approval rat